The Diversity Center invites the Gustavus community to join them for the Multicultural Faculty Panel. This event is sponsored by the Diversity Center and includes a panel discussion from a diverse group of Gustavus faculty.

“Panelists will talk about how they use their identities to navigate through society, experiences they have encountered, and how their intersecting identities affect their work or experience here [at] Gustavus. Panelists will also be asked to share their views on how Gustavus can be more representative of diverse populations,” a representative from the Gustavus Diversity Center said.

There will be many Gustavus professors speaking on the panel.

“This event is meant to host a dialogue between the public and panelists,” Sophomore Andie Kukacka said. A few of the panelists include Geography and Peace Studies Professor Joaquin Villanueva, Associate Professor in Communication Studies, Film and Media Studies, and Program Director of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies Martin Lang ‘95.

“The panel has many different purposes. My main hope is that it will shed some light on the experiences of professors who come from underrepresented backgrounds in our profession, whether race, sexual orientation, economic status, educational background, or other identity categories,” Lang said.

“A problem that comes with being in an underrepresented group is that you don’t always know how things work and don’t have a support system to clue you in. ” – Martin Lang

The experiences of underrepresented groups in any community often differ from that of the majority population, and working to both address and work through these differences has proven to be important for

“The same is true for academics. I think that we all aim to shed some light on how those differences affect us, for good or ill, in our careers, our teaching, our research, and other ways. We also hope to reveal some ways that recognizing, utilizing, and expanding the diversity of experiences among faculty can have benefits for the college,” Lang said.

This panel is a great chance for people to share strategies about how to cope with these challenges as they come up.

“A problem that comes with being in an underrepresented group is that you don’t always know how things work and don’t have a support system to clue you in. This panel can hopefully help fill those gaps so that people facing similar problems can more easily find a path to success,” said Lang.

The Diversity Center encourages students to join them and a group of diverse Gustavus faculty as they share their identities, experiences, and beliefs to how Gustavus can better represent all populations.

The event will be held 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on March 14 in Wallenberg Auditorium, Nobel Hall.